How It’s Made: Parkinson’s Story

How It’s Made: Parkinson’s Story

At Elara, we care about delivering 3D animations that are as engaging as they are informative. Our team recently developed a 3D animation focused on Parkinson’s, its symptoms, and various therapeutic options. When initially setting out to create such an animation, Elara follows a rigorous production process to create the best narrative we can. It takes an impressive amount of coordination, teamwork, and communication to see a 3D animation through to the end.

Over the past 20 years, the process of how we create has slowly been perfected. Elara takes a great amount of pride in how we operate, and we’d like to take the time to share some insight into how we go about creating a 3D animation.

Our animations begin with a script, detailing both voice-over dialogue and visual description of the displayed footage. 3D animation is an incredibly visual language, and as a result, requires a large amount of foresight into the finalized look. Part of this phase requires internal discussions to flesh out the details of the rest of the project. It’s integral that we narrow down this visual acuity as early in the pre-production process as possible, in an effort to avoid coming back to the drawing board at a later date.

Once the script has been reviewed and approved by our team, we focus on bringing the visuals to life through a storyboarding process. The script has set the stage, describing each shot with enough detail for us to begin visually depicting each section. These boards are reviewed, and then we must determine if the visuals presented, in combination with the script, are an effective combination for telling the narrative we set out to create. Once both storyboard and voice-over are locked in, we move forward into the latter half of our 3D animation pipeline.

Now that our team has an understanding of the necessary visuals, we can begin laying out the roadmap for the entire 3D animation. The first step of this process is the animatic phase, most notable for its rough look and lack of polish. The animatic phase is designed to quickly visualize the motion and timing of the animation. With so many variables up in the air, it’s important to start locking down the narrative before moving on any further. If a certain scene isn’t conveying the message it had been intended to deliver, then steps must be taken to adjust and re-deliver the appropriate content.

After the appropriate adjustments are made to solidify the animatic, we will begin working on finalizing the visuals for the Parkinson’s animation. This is done in a two stage process, with the rough-final aiming to push out high definition renders of scenes, and the polished final-delivery taking the appropriate steps to secure the best narrative Elara can create. Since these are the last few steps of the animation, making changes to storyboards or adding entirely new scenes would require the team to go back through several steps of the animation process. It would be similar to getting ready to frost a seven-layer chocolate cake, and then informing the baker it needs to be vanilla. This is why Elara values the pre-production process so much, as it allows us to lay the ground work before executing on highly-polished visual renders.

The finished product is a beautiful, high definition animation: combining together voice-over, music, and compelling visuals to create a truly powerful animation. Research, communication, and creative energy is expended every step of the way. This meticulous pipeline is used for the majority of our projects because it is tried and true. A project is never as simple as it first seems, and ironing out the seams along the way requires a tight-knit team dedicated to the task.

Whether it’s highlighting the smallest chemical reaction or showcasing the entire nervous system, Elara can help you visualize anything. Intricate machinery and complicated pieces of anatomy can all be rendered with a stunning level of visual clarity. Our work brings the world of Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, and Life Sciences to the forefront, with stunning graphics and visual acuity.